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Morgan Paige Brian, whose nickname is Moe or Bean, graduated from UVA with a degree in kinesiology in May of 2017.

She married former professional soccer player Fabrice Gautrat on Nov. 18, 2017.

Loves to spend time with friends and family, and sleep.

Enjoys attending church.

Favorite foods are pineapple gratin and peanut butter pie.

Favorite candy is Warheads, the extreme sour hard candies, or anything sour in general, but is not a fan of spicy foods.

Dreaming Big
Morgan Brian grew up on St. Simon’s Island, a tiny barrier island off the coast of Georgia, three miles wide, 11 miles long, with a huge soccer culture. In spite of the soccer culture, the tiny island population meant there just weren’t enough players, so Brian played up four or five years. “I was nine, and we were playing with kids that were 14. I hadn’t grown yet.” Her tiny size earned her the nickname ‘Plankton;’ the character from her then favorite show, SpongeBob SquarePants.

Eventually she got to the age where she had to go play for a club team off the island. Everyone on the island played club with teams that were far away, making the long car rides a couple times a week, playing pickup with the other island kids the rest of the time. Her entire club team tried out for the Florida State ODP team (which St. Simon’s Island fed into). Florida had an ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ team, so every player on her team made at least one of those rosters – except for Brian. “My club coach was like, ‘You can either pout about it or use it as motivation, and in retrospect, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.” The next year she made the ‘A’ roster state team.

Brian's coach also had his players each fill out a goal sheet, what they wanted to work on now, and what they wanted long term. One of her goals was “start for my club team.” Her coach pulled her aside and said, “What are you doing? You should put, be on the Women’s National Team.”

Fast forward a few years, and Brian was the youngest member of the Women’s National Team squad that won the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.

Having compiled a vast amount of experience at just 24-years-old heading into 2018, Brian has consistently shown the tremendous skill and savvy that made her one of the USA’s best Youth National Team players of the recent generation.

2017: Hampered by injuries throughout the year, she played 236 minutes in just six games while starting two.

2016: Dealt with some injuries, but still played in 20 matches, starting 18, and scored two goals, one in each of the last two games of the year. Played 1,467 minutes and had five assists, which was a career high for a calendar year. Played in her first Olympic Games, starting all four matches while playing 337 minutes. Ended the year with 63 caps at the age of 23.

2015: The youngest member of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup champions at 22, she played in her first WWC at the senior level, seeing action in all six games of the tournament while starting four, including the final three matches. Had two assists on the year and one goal. Played in 24 matches, starting 19; over 1,663 minutes. Scored her one goal of 2015 during a 4-0 win against New Zealand in St. Louis, and had the assist on Tobin Heath's goal in the 2015 WWC Final.

2014: Earned 16 caps for the National Team while also leading her college team at UVA to the NCAA championship game. Was named the U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year. Played in every international tournament in which the WNT participated in 2014, including the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship where she helped the USA qualify for the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

2013: Earned first three senior team caps in 2013 as the youngest player on the WNT. Her first call-up to the full National Team came during the USA’s June friendlies against the Korea Republic. Scored her first goal in her second cap, finishing the scoring in a 7-0 victory vs. Mexico at RFK Stadium.

Youth National Teams:
A key member of the U.S. team that won the 2012 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World
Cup in Japan. She started all six games in the tournament and played all
but 18 minutes, scoring the first goal in the 2-0 victory vs. Nigeria in
the semifinal. The youngest player named to the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women’s
World Cup roster, she played in one match against Paraguay, going all 90
minutes as a defender.

On January 1, 2018 it was announced that she had agreed to a two-and-a-half year contract with European power Olympique Lyonnaise in France. After playing in Lyon for a few months, she returned to the NWSL in July to resume play for the Chicago Red Stars.

2017: Dealt with injuries during the season, but played 662 minutes in 10 games for the Houston Dash. Traded to the Chicago Red Stars on Aug. 30 in exchange for Kristie Mewis and undisclosed future considerations.

2016: Played1,001minutesin 13 matches for the Dash, all of which she started.

2015: Taken #1 overall by the Houston Dash in the 2015 NWSL Draft … Started 10 games for the Dash during her rookie year while playing 810 minutes and picking up three assists.

University of Virginia:
Finished her senior season at the University of Virginia in the fall of
2014 and won the MAC Hermann Trophy as the best collegiate player in the
country for the second consecutive year. She became the fourth women’s
player to win the award in consecutive years, joining Mia Hamm, Cindy
Parlow and Christine Sinclair. Brian earned a bevy of plaudits at the
college level as four-time First-Team All-ACC, three-time All-America and
two-time MAC Hermann Trophy winner as the nation’s top female college
soccer player. Finished her career ranked second in career points (125),
second in career assists (43) and fifth in career goals (41). She started
78 of the 81 games she played for the Cavaliers.

Youth club:
Played for the Ponte Vedra Storm from U-12 to U-19. Won state championships
at the U-18 and U-17 levels with the Storm and was the national runner-up
as U-17s. Won the U-19 national title in the summer of 2012.